As struggles on the court mount, FSU tries to keep calm

Seminoles insist they are not stressed despite setbacks

February 4, 2013|By Coley Harvey, Orlando Sentinel

TALLAHASSEE — A wave of sadness should have swept over Florida State's locker room late Saturday afternoon as the Seminoles tried to begin picking themselves up immediately following their 79-60 home loss to No. 3 Duke.

With the losses piling up and the struggles mounting, stress, anxiety and worry just had to be looming around the corner, just outside the locker room door, right?

Wrong, the Seminoles say.

As difficult as this championship-defending season has been, each of those emotions have apparently been noticeably absent.

"I'm not stressed," junior guard Ian Miller said. "We're just going to have to get this thing together and buy in as a team. . . . We'll be fine."

Ahead of tonight's game at Georgia Tech, the Seminoles look anything other than "fine." At 12-8 overall and 4-4 in conference play, they have been a near-perfect demonstration of mediocrity. For the last two weeks, they have traded wins and losses in consecutive games. Fresh off Saturday's pummeling, the Seminoles are now losers of three of their last five games.

"It's us not finding that magic level of chemistry that we have to have to play to each other," he said. "That's been a moving target for this team."

Tipoff for the game at Georgia Tech (12-8, 2-6) is at 9 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN3.com.

Leadership can arguably be considered a key component in helping build chemistry. Some coaches believe their teams live and die by the one or two vocal and inspiring players they may have on their rosters. Hamilton, who had six seniors on a team that won the first ACC championship in school history, isn't one of those coaches.

"I've never really worried about that. I'm not as sure if that's really a factor," Hamilton said about leadership on his team. "I've been coaching a long, long time and I'm not really sure that I've ever had those phantom leaders that people try to make you think you have to have or should have or every team has.

"There are very few teams that I've had where you have what they call that 'coach on the floor.' We have a lot of learning to do with this team. But their attitude is pretty good. I like their attitude. We've just got to lead them and grow through this."

Now two seasons removed from a coaching change, the Yellow Jackets are going through a similar period of learning and growth. While their 2-6 conference record is much worse than FSU's 4-4 league mark, an argument can be made that the Jackets are inching closer to success than the Seminoles.

Two of Tech's last four losses have been decided by fewer than five points. Of the Jackets' wins the past two weeks, one was a 20-point blowout and the other came against a good Virginia team that FSU has struggled with. FSU has three losses decided by five points or less; only one of them has come in ACC play. Three times the Seminoles have been beaten by 20 or more.

"What has happened was them coming into the season with people not having high expectations [for them]," Hamilton said of the Jackets. "What they've done is work hard and try to prove people wrong. They are really, really playing well together."

"Together" is precisely what the Seminoles aren't right now.

"As far as the veterans, we're going to have to take control of this team and reel it in," he said. "And we're just going to have to make our young guys buy in."